Episode 6: Mayday in Germany, an Intro to Hamburg
05. May, 2007 
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This episode of the myGermany podcast deals with my recent experiences in celebrating Mayday in Germany as well as giving you a taste of Hamburg.
The coat of arms forthe city-state of Hamburg
The City of Hamburg is a very exciting place to visit, with lots of nordic and nautical charm. Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port, Hamburg is also the second largest port city in Europe, no. 9 in the world-ranking of ports and the largest city in the European Union which is not a national capital.
The city of Hamburg lies at the junction of the river Elbe with the rivers Alster and Bille and the city centre is beautifully set around two lakes, the Binnenalster (“Inner Alster”) and the Aussenalster (“Outer Alster”).
Three Places to vist whilst in the city of Hamburg:
- The “Speicherstadt” (Storehouse City) was built in 1885-88, as part of Hamburg’s newly created freeport. All storehouses here have direct access to transport barges approaching on the channels at their waterfront side and land street access at their other side. The “Speicherstadt” also houses many museums and event locations: the “German Customs Museum”, the “Speicherstadt Museum”, the “Spice Museum”, the “Afghanistan Museum”, the “HafenCity InfoCenter”, the “Miniature Wonderland” with the largest model railroad layout in the world and the “HamburgDungeon” with its historic reenactment adventures. Location: south of Hamburg’s town center, opposite of the “Zollkanal”
- Hamburg’s “HafenCity” (Port City), with its modern building lines and historical ships, its pontoons and walkways at the “Sandtorhafen” and a buzzing cosmopolitan street life, is a shining beacon of international urban development. Efforts to revitalize derelict port areas are undertaken in quite a number of towns all over the world: e.g. London, Rotterdam or San Francisco. Nevertheless, Hamburg’s “HafenCity” project is quite unique.
Location: The “HafenCity” InfoCenter (Accessibility) lies on the route of the Hamburg City Walk “Storehouse City Promenade”. - The “Reeperbahn” is Hamburg’s most famous street. It derives its name from the “Reepschläger”, who between 1600 and 1880 used the erstwhile tree-covered area north of the present street to manufacture long ship ropes made of hemp, so-called “Reep”, on long-stretched tracks called “Reeperbahn”. In the 1960s, the “Reeperbahn” and the adjacent “GroÃ?e Freiheit” streets became the mecca of rock music. In clubs like the “Top Ten” or “Starclub”, the Beatles or the Searchers and many more famous rock bands from all around the world were performing. In the 1970s and 1980s, brothels, striptease clubs and peep shows dominated the red-light district. Nowadays, many “normal” restaurants, music clubs and theaters, such as the “Schmidt” or the “Operettenhaus”, have made the “Reeperbahn” once again a popular attraction for the average Hamburg citizen and tourist, too. Location: south of the “Speicherstadt” (Storehouse City), which lies south of Hamburg’s town center.
Also, we rasied the Maypole this year in our village and it was a lot of fun. Though I was aware of many of the political implications of Mayday, I had never really had the chance to experience some of the more rural traditions.
Our Maypole and the village festivities
Send me a mail and let me know if you have any ideas for shows or if there is anything in particular that you would like to hear about.
The featured German band in this episode is Fettes Brot from Hamburg, one of the first German pseudo-rap bands to have some success in the 90’s.
Fettes Brot
Now-a-days, German rap has definitely followed in the footsteps of their American gangster rap breathern, but Fettes Brot never went that way. Always fun and most certainly a party band, they never went for that image. The song is called “Schwule Maedchen” and it was a big hit a few year back. Hope you enjoy it!
Thoughts Aside:
A flight centre is the best place to acquire knowledge regarding flights to paris. If this is your first time, they will even schedule you with a flight simulator. Then you will be able to hop on flights to spain or africa or even the moon without any qualms. You will be able to book flights without hesitating for a second.
here is something similar
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